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I made a huge mistake of upgrading to iOS 6 today. I hate the release and I want OUT. When I try to downgrade by restoring to IPSW for 5.1.1 it tells me that the device isn't eligible for the build. What do I have to do to make iTunes accept this IPSW file and run the install?

You can read how to downgrade to iOS 5.1.1 on my blog : http://antonpug.com/blog

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    What specifically are you having trouble with? We might be able to help with specific problems to make iOS 6 better so you don't have to go all the way down to 5.
    – Cajunluke
    Commented Sep 20, 2012 at 4:37
  • You'd want to check this document About the security content of iOS 6 on the Apple site out as well. There are quite a few security issues (I counted over 200 specific CVE's) fixed in iOS6.
    – chiggsy
    Commented Sep 20, 2012 at 6:04
  • I went back down to iOS 5.1.1.
    – antonpug
    Commented Sep 20, 2012 at 14:55
  • iOS 6 is awful. I am not concerned about security as I am about iOS 6's slowness, freezes, horrible UI, a joke of a Maps application and more things that I will put in the "Apple's Junk" folder...like Passbook.
    – antonpug
    Commented Sep 20, 2012 at 14:57
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    @antonpug unfortunately that is the Apple way. If you do not like it, it is time to get another phone.
    – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
    Commented Sep 22, 2012 at 8:32

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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In general, you will need to jailbreak (if that's even possible on the new iOS) the device to revert the OS. iOS upgrades (OTA or via iTunes) are one way and have been that way (unable to downgrade) since the 1.0.

Hopefully someone will see your plea for help once they know if and how a jailbreak will work. In the past you needed to get shsh keys from Apple and there was a limited window after updates to get the old keys. If this is so, time is of the essence for you. I haven't been keeping up on jailbreaking enough to even recommend a wiki or reputable source other than to recommend you search the internet.

Of course if someone hasn't already asked a how to jailbreak iOS 6 question here, you are free to ask that question as well or edit that into this question.

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  • Was able to restore to 5.1.1! They are still signing for that one.
    – antonpug
    Commented Sep 20, 2012 at 4:29
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    To the swift go the spoils... Glad it worked.
    – bmike ♦
    Commented Sep 20, 2012 at 4:33
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I just read this blog post and it looks like it's possible to downgrade but only if you do it quickly. Soon there will be no turning back.

Also, it's device dependent, as explained in this post

It worked for me to restore an old back up.

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    Whilst this may theoretically answer the question, it would be preferable to include the essential parts of the answer here, and provide the link for reference.
    – Mark Henderson
    Commented Sep 20, 2012 at 4:28
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    Just to expand on mark's point: It's useful to have the answer here in case the website changes in the future. We like our answers to be accessible and legible for future users.
    – Alexander
    Commented Sep 22, 2012 at 20:21
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You will need the following programs:

  • iTunes latest version
  • iREB
  • Tiny Umbrella

First open up iREB, select your device and put it into DFU mode. Once it is done you will get a message stating that your device is now in DFU mode.

Second you then need to open up Tiny Umbrella and click "Start the TSS server."

Third, open up iTunes. A message will pop up reminding you that your device is in DFU mode. Hold down Shift when you click the restore button and choose the firmware. It may take a while to load the firmware but it does work.

This process also works for custom firmware as well.

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